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A Question of Morality.https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2016/03/30/a-question-of-morality/
https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2016/03/30/a-question-of-morality/#respondWed, 30 Mar 2016 22:19:55 +0000http://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/?p=191We are often told more times than we care to remember that our morality is derived from god or gods and the adherents of the Abrahamic god in particular, arrogantly and without shame or a sense of irony continue to repeat the same tired old mantra.The question we must ask is this,is there any evidence for these claims and should it be taken seriously?. Earliest human attempts to furnish moral codes can be traced all the way back to ancient Sumer and ancient Egypt.The Code of Ur-Nammu from Sumer is dated to around 2100 BCE whilst The law Code of Hammurabi is adjudged to have preceded mosaic law by about a thousand years ,although the code is notoriously severe,it did introduce two of the most important tenets of modern justice:the presumption of innocence and the opportunity for the plaintiff and defendant to present evidence.

The Code of the Neslim from the Hittites in what is now modern day Turkey regulated several aspects of their rapidly expanding empire. One of its most significant topics concerned the treatment of slaves. When compared to how other societies treated slaves, the Code of Nesilim was surprisingly fair, allowing them to marry whomever they wanted, to buy property, to open businesses, and to purchase their freedom. But most significantly, under the Code of Nesilim, slaves were not treated as human chattel, or property that could be used and abused by their masters however they saw fit. They had a limited number of rights that guaranteed them a level of dignity and protection.

One of the oldest recorded systems of human morality was the ancient Egyptian concept of ma’at. Evoking concepts of “straightness, evenness, correctness … rightness … truth, justice, righteousness, and order,” ma’at was central to the development of ancient Egyptian religion and ethics. Ma’at extended to virtually every aspect of ancient Egyptian life and death. According to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, a freshly departed soul would have to recite 42 Negative Confessions as part of their trial in the underworld. Some examples include “I have not slain man or woman” and “I have no uttered evil words.” If the soul had not fulfilled all 42 Negative Confessions, then their heart would be eaten by Ammit, the “devourer,” .The 42 Confessions were memorized by every Egyptian citizen, and therefore can be seen as a kind of institutionalized system of ma’at. As such, they can be interpreted as the first recorded laws in Egyptian history.

The Kang Gao law code from China is dated to around the 11th century BCE,the Dharmasutras from India ,the Gortyn Code from ancient Crete,the 12 Tables of Roman Law,the Annals of Confucius and the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius are just a few examples of our attempts to evolve and shape our morality and our laws over time

More than 2 millennia before the French Revolution introduced the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizens , a Persian monarch issued a charter that is considered to be the oldest known declarations of human rights. This charter is known today as the Cyrus Cylinder.

The Cyrus Cylinder was discovered in the ruins of Babylon, in modern Iraq, in March 1879. The ancient relic, which was a foundation deposit at the city’s main temple, the Ésagila, was made of baked clay, and measured 22.5 cm (8.85 in) in length. On the cylinder is an account detailing the conquest of Babylon in 539 B.C. by Persian king Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, who had created the largest empire of the era. It also describes the capture of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. The account was inscribed in cuneiform text, and has been dated to between 539 and 530 B.C.What is remarkable bout the inscriptions is that it displays a measure of tolerance and benevolence that seems highly unusual for rulers of that era.

The Inca have a saying “Ama Sua. Ama Llulla. Ama Quella” which translates as “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not be lazy”What is palpably obvious is that numerous peoples and cultures made concerted efforts to live by a strong moral code irrespective of their beliefs or gods they worshipped.Does this negate the idea that our morality is derived from the Abrahamic god or any god?.

Do we really derive our morality from religion or does our morality precede the gods we invented?.We now have very good evidence that archaic humans like Homo erectus cared for their old and infirm,we are also gleaning compelling evidence that Neanderthals cared for their sick,buried their dead ritually like humans.What does this all mean ?.Dare I suggest that it is palpably clear that a sense of morals is innate in not just humans but other lifeforms on earth.Empathy and compassion drives morality and this is not unique to modern humans.

We have seen examples of altruism in the natural world .

A Bear saves a Crow from drowning.

An Orangutan saves a chick from drowning

We have numerous examples of Dolphins saving swimmers from sharks and occasionally saving stranded dogs ,what is clear is animals did not read this in a book or perform these acts of kindness for a reward or for fear of being roasted in a celestial oven.The case can indeed be made that the kind of morality proposed by religion demeans and dehumanizes us.The idea that we derive morality from a god or gods that would advocate slavery,misogyny,infanticide ,genocide and all the innumerable horrors found in religious literature is insulting and obscene.The suggestion that a belief in these gods is the prerequisite to be saved and admitted into some Disneyland in the sky is repulsive.

Belief is not a virtue but a good character certainly is.It is highly suspect that an ideology purporting to be divine would espouse the virtues of belief over that of a good character.An in depth study of ancient African ethics reveals a value system that is essentially humanistic and the emphasis is on character.Can a case be made that even if gods do exist,that humans are perfectly capable of discerning right from wrong?.Have we often not seen children display an innate a sense of fairness without being told?.

Can we conclude that humans knew not right from wrong until we were introduced to the Abrahamic god ?,I think the answer is we obviously did, and to suggest that we derive our morality from gods that often seem less compassionate,less tolerant,and more malevolent than we are is simply astonishing.

SURA 4.56: (As for) those who disbelieve in Our communications, We shall make them enter fire; so oft as their skins are thoroughly burned, We will change them for other skins, that they may taste the chastisement; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.

The above passage taken from the Quran is quite revealing,this is what Allah promises those that do not believe,why is belief so highly sought after?.I submit that the truth should not require coercion but should gently persuade you with the beauty and profundity of its contents.

Our morality is innate and not derived from the gods we worship and this is a good thing.Religion was our earliest attempts to shape and construct a moral code and it shows,our innate morality inspired us to concoct a myriad of ideologies that serve as a moral framework but it is palpably clear that the morality gleaned from religion is precisely what you would expect from a primate barely out of its proverbial diapers.

Our species for the most part has now struggled to evolve a moral framework that is much more inclusive,more humane, more tolerant ,and independent of any religion and that speaks for itself.

Tavian Oladapo

March 30 2016

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]]>https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2016/03/30/a-question-of-morality/feed/0scales-of-justicetavianoladapoModern Birds Took Flight 95 Million Years Agohttps://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/12/14/modern-birds-took-flight-95-million-years-ago/
https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/12/14/modern-birds-took-flight-95-million-years-ago/#respondMon, 14 Dec 2015 21:20:44 +0000http://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/?p=172Modern birds originated in South America then moved to other parts of the world ,diversifying during periods of global cooling,the researchers found.

This story is an excerpt.You can read the full article by clicking on the source above.

By Tavian Oladapo

]]>https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/12/14/modern-birds-took-flight-95-million-years-ago/feed/0curiosity cattavianoladapoTop 10 most important Dinosaur fossils discovered in Africahttps://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/30/top-10-most-important-dinosaur-fossils-discovered-in-africa/
https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/30/top-10-most-important-dinosaur-fossils-discovered-in-africa/#commentsMon, 30 Nov 2015 21:54:51 +0000http://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/?p=146If I had a pound for every time I have heard that no dinosaurs fossils were ever discovered in africa ,I would be a wealthy man.So I have decided to list the top ten most important discoveries in Africa so far.T-rex has captured the imagination for quite a while but has been recently been upstaged by the largest carnivorous dinosaur ever discovered.

Spinosaurus was the master of all it surveyed during the cretaceous period with two species of this meat eating behemoth inhabiting the swamps of North Africa.I shall be writing more extensively about this fascinating animal in the near future.

In the meantime the top ten list according to Prehistoric Wildlife can be found below.

]]>https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/30/top-10-most-important-dinosaur-fossils-discovered-in-africa/feed/2curiosity cattavianoladapoMystery of how snakes lost their legs solved by reptile fossilhttps://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/30/mystery-of-how-snakes-lost-their-legs-solved-by-reptile-fossil/
https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/30/mystery-of-how-snakes-lost-their-legs-solved-by-reptile-fossil/#respondMon, 30 Nov 2015 21:03:42 +0000http://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/?p=126Today the prevailing view is that snakes evolved from four legged reptilian ancestors .

Fresh analysis of a reptile fossil is helping scientists solve an evolutionary puzzle — how snakes lost their limbs.

This story is an excerpt.You can read the full story by clicking the “Source” above.

]]>https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/30/mystery-of-how-snakes-lost-their-legs-solved-by-reptile-fossil/feed/0curiosity cattavianoladapoThe Problem with Evolutionhttps://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/22/the-problem-with-evolution-by-tavian-oladapo/
https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/22/the-problem-with-evolution-by-tavian-oladapo/#commentsSun, 22 Nov 2015 00:05:31 +0000http://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/?p=2This week On the Origin of Speciesthe masterpiece by Charles Darwin was voted the most influential academic book in history.The biology bombshell edged out works by notable authors such as William Shakespeare and Stephen Hawking just to name a few.Darwin’s famous book stirred up controversy virtually from the moment it was published due to its implications for religion and the origin of human beings.

Despite the controversy,the theory of evolution by natural selection has been validated time and time again and is the bedrock of modern biology and medicine.The question I would like to pose is why this fundamental principle of science is so problematic to so many, and why the vociferous and almost rabid opposition?.From its initial proposition by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the mid 19th century,this groundbreaking scientific theory has elicited the most venomous opposition unlike any other scientific theory in human history,but why?.

For almost 2000 years christianity has held sway in significant parts of the world with the story of Adam and Eve being touted as the explanation for the origins of humanity.What biological evolution has essentially done is to make a mockery of the Abrahamic creation myth ,therefore inciting the wrath of those who deem this story to be inerrant and true.

The challenges were not long in coming,all of a sudden one scientific theory amongst many became the focus of so much vitriol, and the first of many legal challenges began with The Scopes Trial in 1925 and culminated in Kitzmiller V.Dover in 2005.What is interesting about these cases is the gradual changes in the way those I like to affectionately refer to as “The Santa Claus Brigade” have chosen to present their objections.

The goalpost shifted from an outright objection to evolution to an argument to teach creationism as on opposing theory, and the latest strategy by some is novel in that the claim is now that evolution is true but their sky genie initiated the process and this should be taught as another opposing theory to evolution.This is indicative of the ground religion has to give in the face of overwhelming evidence ,but what is palpably clear is that they continue to find newer and more imaginative ways to obstruct inquiry in order to continue to teach fables as true.

The Dover school board backed by “The Discovery Institute” a religious think tank attempted to sneak creationism into a science classroom disguised as Intelligent Design, ,it was shot down in flames in 2005 with a cross-section of expert witnesses called upon by the plaintiffs.A re-enactment of the trial by PBS can be seen below.

Suffice it to say that the presiding judge was scathing in his ruling against intelligent design.He ruled that it is creationism and is not science.He also ruled that members of the Dover school board lied under oath to hide their religious motivations.This pivotal case revealed the lengths some would go to in order to obstruct any science that threatens their religious worldview.

In the meantime,the evidence for biological evolution keeps piling up.Through the discovery of Dna and Genetics we now know about our kinship with all life on earth.We now know we are more closely related genetically to chimpanzees and bonobos so much so that we retain a fusion of 2 ancestral primate chromosomes located on human chromosome number 2.

We now know that we once shared our planet with other branches of the homo genus and we interbred with them and the remnants of these dalliances reside in our genome. We have discovered that our ancestors mated with Neanderthals and left their imprint in some modern humans. We know another archaic hominin known as Denisovans left their genetic fingerprint in Australian Aborigines, East Asians and Melanesians. We have managed to identify an EPAS1 gene inherited by Tibetans from Denisovans that confers an advantage for living at High Altitudes as well genetic variants for keratin filaments derived from Neanderthals inherited by at least 80% of Eurasians. The discovery of a plethora of fossils in Africa continues unabated. The Iwo Eleru skull discovered in Ondo state in Nigeria in 1965 displays a mosaic of modern and archaic anatomical features and suggests that the emergence of modern humans is more complex than we ever imagined.

The story of modern humans reveals a veritable thicket that involves numerous hominin species mingling with each other,but for reasons unknown we are the only ones left.It is now generally accepted that modern humans arose in Africa but strangely being an African myself ,I find that an uncomfortable majority of Africans foam at the mouth at the very suggestion of what should be a profound discovery.I find the notion that we are all so closely knit incredibly humbling and almost poetic in its simplicity.The problem with evolution is that it is counter intuitive and shatters the illusion of comfort we have woven around ourselves.

Nevertheless,this is a reason to celebrate the part we all play in this fascinating tapestry of life.

Some are not so lucky.

Tavian Oladapo

]]>https://curiosityfeedsthecat.com/2015/11/22/the-problem-with-evolution-by-tavian-oladapo/feed/2curiosity cattavianoladapoOne of the last photographs taken of Charles Darwin.